Tuesday, February 7, 2012

By now you’ve heard that the Ninth Circuit Court has upheld Judge Walker’s decision to overturn the will of the voters in California who supported Proposition 8. The case will immediately be appealed to the Supreme Court. Catholics for the Common Good which has done so much important work educating Californians on the meaning and value of marriage sends along their analysis of why the decision was no surprise:

THE JAMES R. BROWNING COURTHOUSE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA – “The decision of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to uphold Judge Walker’s radical decision overturning Prop 8 comes as no surprise,” said Catholics for the Common Good President William B. May.

“We always knew this case would be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court. Now that the Ninth Circuit has rendered its decision, the case can finally move to the U.S. Supreme Court where it will be decided on sound legal arguments rather than the emotional appeals by those trying to obliterate the only institution that unites children with their moms and dads.”

“The author of the decision, Judge Stephen Reinhardt, is one of the most overturned judges in the most overturned court in the U.S.”

According to Prop 8 Legal Defense General Counsel Andy Pugno, this decision “is completely out of step with every other federal appellate and Supreme Court decision in American history on the subject of marriage.” ProtectMarriage.com will immediately file its appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

“It is outrageous that judges continue to disregard the will of 7 million voters who voted to protect the centrality and integrity of marriage for children and society,” May said.

Federal District Chief Judge Vaughn Walker presided over a show trial about marriage in which plaintiff’s counsel trotted out witness after witness with emotional arguments in a PR attempt to re-argue Proposition 8.

“Failing to disclose that the judge himself was similarly situated as the plaintiffs (in a long-term committed relationship with a same-sex partner), Walker could find no rational reason for the voters to define marriage between a man and a woman and concluded they were bigoted and discriminatory,” said May.

“To reach his judgment about the voters and his decision to strike down Prop 8, he created a new definition of marriage as merely the public recognition of a committed relationship for the benefit of adults. However, the voters of California know that marriage is much more than that. It is the reality that unites a man and a woman with each other and any children born from their union. This is what marriage is; that is what it does. It is a reality that can only be recognized by law and never changed.”

Catholics for the Common Good works for a more just society. It is the sponsor of the Stand with Children Project, a movement promoting marriage and family as an imperative of social justice.